1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of marine seismic instrumentation and methods of using same. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus, systems, and methods for positioning seismic streamers.
2. Related Art
Marine seismic exploration investigates and maps the structure and character of subsurface geological formations underlying a body of water. For large survey areas, seismic vessels may tow one or more seismic sources and multiple seismic streamer cables through the water. The seismic sources typically comprise compressed air guns for generating acoustic pulses in the water. The energy from these pulses propagates downwardly into the geological formations and is reflected upwardly from the interfaces between subsurface geological formations. The reflected energy is sensed with hydrophones attached to the seismic streamers, and data representing such energy is recorded and processed to provide information about the underlying geological features.
Previous attempts have not provided optimal positioning of marine seismic streamers, and further improvement is desired.